It might only be the second week of preseason, but we can already read the tea leaves and see the teams who have some problems waiting on the horizon. Injuries, underperformance, and suspension have coalesced to leave some of the league’s best teams lacking in key areas, while others are dealing with a glut of talent at a position and have the potential to make a deal.
With the NFL moving to a single cut down day on August 26 it’s meant that we don’t have as much in-camp movement as past years, where players were released in stages, allowing for more pickups in camp. That could mean that we see some significant veteran trades executed on, or shortly before the cut down deadline — and there are some deals out there that just make too much sense.
Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings
It’s wild to look at the Vikings as a team that needs receiver help, but here we are. The paramount concern for Minnesota this year is to get J.J. McCarthy started off on the right foot, and that will be extremely difficult with Jordan Addison serving a three game suspension, and now Rondale Moore suffering a season-ending knee injury.
As it stands the opening day receivers for Minnesota will be Justin Jefferson, Tai Felton, and Jalen Nailor in the slot. That’s a bad, bad unit.
Enter an old friend in Adam Thielen. The Carolina Panthers love Thielen, but they have a problem of their own at receiver: They have too many to know what to do with. All signs point to Tetairoa McMillan being their No. 1, with Xavier Legette across from him, and Thielen in the slot. That leaves 2024 breakout UDFA Jalen Coker, Hunter Renfrow, and promising rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. all riding the pine.
The Panthers have often said Thielen is their veteran leadership, glue guy — but depending on how the front office feels about the maturity of the unit, Thielen could be expendable. He would be an ideal fit for Minnesota as a bridge WR, who can offer punch on the outside immediately, and transition to the slot when Addison returns.
Kirk Cousins to the Los Angeles Rams
The Rams season hangs in the balance. Matthew Stafford’s back injury had prevented him from taking snaps for a majority of training camp, and there’s little sign that things will get better. As it stands there’s a real chance that Jimmy Garoppolo starts the season, and that’s bad news. When it comes to backups you could do a lot worse than Jimmy G, but he’s not going to be a player who gives you the same playoff impact as Stafford.
Kirk Cousins still exists. The way the Falcons have handled Cousins this offseason has been extremely bizarre, as they now enter the regular season with one of the highest paid backup QBs of all time. There have been sporadic reports that Atlanta has hoped for a good trade return, but that’s kind of ridiculous. Dumping a large portion of his salary and picking up a mid-round pick would be a solid move for the Falcons to progress and show faith in Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins is far from the perfect QB, but he might be enough to ensure the Rams get to the playoffs, which is more than we can say about Jimmy G.
Kayvon Thibodeaux to the Detroit Lions
Yeah, I’ll jump on this train too. As much as the Giants want to keep talking about their pass rush trio, it’s an absolute luxury for New York to keep Thibodeaux when they have so many other needs that could be filled.
Enter the Detroit Lions. There’s long been discussion about the Lions needing to upgrade their pass rush, but this has become even more prominent with injuries to their secondary. It makes a lot of sense for the Lions to bolster their pass rush and try to take down the QB first, rather than trying to add another corner or safety before the season begins.
Thibodeux is not a good fit with Brian Burns, which is why the Giants were comfortable taking Abdul Carter in the draft. Thibodeux and Burns were a bad duo against the run, and filled a similar role as speed/finesse pass rushers. Meanwhile the Lions have someone sitting on their depth chart the Giants could really use in veteran OT Dan Skipper.
New York’s offensive line is a mess. Skipper, a fan favorite, is set to be a backup this season in Detroit. There’s easily a scenario where the Giants could add Skipper and a 3rd round pick, getting much better in the process and moving on. Meanwhile the Lions get another pass rusher who could revitalize his career on the Lions and become an impact player.
Terry McLaurin to the Houston Texans
Let’s throw another random one out there that makes a lot of sense when you think about it a little deeper. At this point it’s unclear if the Commanders and McLaurin will be able to work this out. It’s extremely dumb, but it is what it is. While there’s no doubt both these teams need each other more than they want to admit, this could also be the breaking point.
If there’s one thing we know about the Texans it’s that they love the idea of overloading on weapons for C.J. Stroud. To this end McLaurin would be a major upgrade at WR, arguably giving the team one of the better units in the NFL with Nico Collins and Tank Dell to accompany McLaurin. Why didn’t I mention WR2 Christian Kirk? Because he’s heading to Washington in this scenario.
Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury was able to unlock Kirk in Arizona and turn him into a 1,000 yard receiver. Nobody else has really been able to do this. If the Commanders feel the need to trade McLaurin, then Kirk feels like an ideal replacement who can stretch the field, do everything McLaurin does, and perhaps even fit the Kingsbury system a little better.
Meanwhile for the Texans it’s a solid upgrade that fits their mold of trying to overwhelm teams through the air.
